With the average small business set to spend more than $75,000 on digital marketing this year, every business is looking for new ways to cut costs. The only problem is that when you pick a less expensive solution, how can you know it’s going to work? In real estate marketing, it takes a lot of savvy and a considerable amount of risk to ensure that you make any sale.

If you’re wondering which marketing strategies work the best, follow these 6 to ensure you use digital tools to achieve the best advantage possible.

1. Write A Blog

When people are searching on the internet, they’re either looking for a specific product or the answer to a question. Realtors who are savvy and want to capture both kinds of searches are turning to blogs to improve their search result rankings.

Writing a blog is a great way to answer frequently asked questions before any of your competitors can. You can also use local geographical terms to ensure that you’re being shown to the most relevant customers in your region. Search engines love to use geo-targeting data to get to the exact users who need your information the most.

Writing a blog allows you to constantly be adding new content to your website. Blog content is also highly reputable when you link to other reputable sources. Share your best posts on your social media profiles and you’ll build your reputation through the number of clicks you get.

2. Claim Your Business Listings

Google My Business, Yahoo! Local, and Yelp are great ways to market your real estate office. There might already be listings up for your office already. It’s essential that you claim those listings so that you can ensure that all of the information on those listings are consistent.

Business directories across the internet will buy listings from other sites and plug the data into their own maps and databases. If they buy incorrect information, they will spread incorrect phone numbers, office hours, or former locations.

These business listings are often the first contact that potential customers have with your business. The accuracy of the information is vital.

3. Hire A Professional Photographer

Having a professional photographer to take photos of your listings is important. It shows potential buyers how great your listings are. While you might want to grab a few quick phone photos, they won’t really give your potential buyers a clear idea of what they’re looking at.

Professional photographers know how to situate a viewer in a space so that they can get a strong sense of how big the room is and what it feels like.

While it might cost you a few more dollars that you expected to spend, it will be worth it given how much faster you’ll get properties sold. When you hire a professional photographer, see if they’ll also take headshots for all of your realtors. Having a series of matching headshots will help to build your brand and show your competitors that you mean business.

4. Do Virtual Tours

Within the next few years, video will account for more than 80% of all internet traffic. Because people love to see video content, whether for entertainment or for information, you should be offering this option to your audience. Videos that show off your listings can help situate buyers inside of the home and help them to sell quicker.

With video and 3D technology popping up all over the place, it’s becoming increasingly inexpensive to produce this content. While you should do what you can to hire a professional videographer, you can still take pretty good video on your phone.

Your videos might not get the property sold, but they’ll be a good supplement to your professional photos, either way.

5. Use Social Media

Social media is a great way to share information about listings. Image-heavy social media channels like Instagram offer a way to show off the best of the best.

With the new “stories” feature on Instagram and Facebook, you can string together short videos that form a narrative. Use this to show before and after images or video of newly renovated buildings. You can also use stories to offer a walkthrough of just about any site.

Social media also allows for supremely targeted advertising. With the access you get to a social media channel’s strongly researched database, you can target the exact group of people who might be interested in a listing. Check off what other interests they should have so that you can find the right people for your new listing.

6. Use Reviews To Your Advantage

Given that more than 80% of consumers trust the reviews they see online as much as referrals from friends, you should be making sure you look good in reviews. Reach out to clients after a sale and see if they’ll post something about you on your Yelp listing.

Have a listing for every one of the people working in your office. They should be able to get individual reviews. While they will be separated from the main office page, they will help to build the profile of your office.

Reviews can help potential buyers get a feeling for how well a realtor listened to them, what was available at the time, and what it takes to buy through you. Impart how important these reviews are to your reputation and your realtors will be sure to participate in the program.

Real Estate Marketing Takes Content

While strategy and approach are important, what will rule over everything is how strong your content is.

Without good content, you won’t be able to keep an audience interested and won’t be able to break through to new people. Focus on your digital strategy with sincere organic content and you’re sure to do well in the real estate marketing game.

If you want to keep your realty office at the top of the game, be sure to follow our guides to a successful real estate practice.